I need a few tips about buying Sony gear in Vancouver. Can you help?

Hi friends,
i'm going to Vancouver in a couple of months and i wish some local photographer could give me some tips. I intend to buy some gear and would be nice to have some recommendations on where to buy, where to look for used gear as well.

I'm coming from Brazil and every time I leave the country is a great opportunity to buy stuff since here things are way too expensive or non existing.

And if any good soul with a a7r3 would like to meet so i can have a hands on experience would be apreciated. And I could get you a nice Cachaça as a gift hehehe.

Thanks,
Pedro

I don't live in British Columbia but I've dealt with Kerrisdale Camera there. They've been excellent. Enjoy your trip.

Vancouver BC or Vancouver WA?

Kerrisdale Camera & Broadway Camera are both good - they have a few locations, so if they don’t have it in the location you visit they can get it in the next day. Best therefore if you don’t leave your shopping to the last day.

PeterGui said:

Hi friends,
i'm going to Vancouver in a couple of months and i wish some local photographer could give me some tips. I intend to buy some gear and would be nice to have some recommendations on where to buy, where to look for used gear as well.
I'm coming from Brazil and every time I leave the country is a great opportunity to buy stuff since here things are way too expensive or non existing.
And if any good soul with a a7r3 would like to meet so i can have a hands on experience would be apreciated. And I could get you a nice Cachaça as a gift hehehe.

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Hi Pedro! Hope you have a good time here in Vancouver. I'd trade some hands-on time with an A7RIII for cachaca but I only have the original, old, A7R haha. I know that you poor souls in Brazil get killed on taxes and duties so buying electronics when you're out of the country is always a good deal. Here in Vancouver, the best shops are Broadway Camera and Henry's, both on Broadway just outside of the downtown core. Kerrisdale Camera, as recommended by others, is also good, though Henry's is probably the nicest place to visit and check out a lot of different gear. There's also Leo's downtown on Granville Street, which is kind of unique old store.

Beau Photo on 8th near Granville (just outside of the downtown core) is also a great place...unique and interesting with great service. They offer a rental service and if you rent and then buy, they'll put the cost of up to two days of rental to the price of the camera.

http://www.beauphoto.com/product-category/equipment-products/camera-lenses/

If you're looking for used gear, Kerrisdale, Beau and Leo's sell used gear. You'll have to pay 12% sales tax at those stores but if you buy privately from something like Craigslist, you, of course, won't pay any form of tax. Craigslist in Vancouver is active with lots of gear changing hands.

https://vancouver.craigslist.org/search/pha?

There are also some 'big box' stores like London Drugs and Best Buy that have a pretty good selection of gear but, not being photo speciality stores, they lack the service and focus of the others.

Feel free to send me any questions you have.

--
Dave Sanders

London Drugs on Broadway. They are in a war will Henry’s, 2 doors down and plan to crush them. I’ll bet the prices are tops and service and selection in the city.

Just Another Photog said:

London Drugs on Broadway. They are in a war will Henry’s, 2 doors down and plan to crush them. I’ll bet the prices are tops and service and selection in the city.

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The LD on Broadway and Cambie is a poor buying experience... A moderate selection cased behind glass with disinterested staff. MAP means their prices are the same. Far, far more enjoyable to wander among bags and accessories at Henry's or Broadway Camera than to elbow past people buying cheap cellphones and refills for their Nespresso. For a photographic visitor from Brazil, the others are all a much better experience. LD does, however, sometimes have stock when the others don't.

I'd recommend checking out Broadway Camera, London Drugs, and Henry's. None of them are any cheaper than the others, most things are MSRP except for the rare sale, but all the stores price-match with each other. Plus they all have locations within a 10 minutes walk of each other, no reason not to hit up all 3.

I prefer to buy from Broadway Camera if possible since they are a local small company, but the staff can be a bit uptight.

London Drugs has a surprisingly good photography section despite being a department store. They tend to get more stock of some popular items. For example I walked into the downtown location and bought the Tamron off the shelf when everywhere online was 2 months backordered. Staff are friendly, but not necessarily experts.

Henry's is new to the city, but is a cross Canada chain. There was a ton of staff that all seemed excited about what they were selling, it was almost too much, I could barely stop and look at something without someone asking if I wanted to try it out.

I've honestly never had much success with used gear in the city. What I've wanted has never been available locally on Craigslist, at least not at enough of a discount for the hassle compared to waiting for an Ebay 10% off coupon to buy from a place like Map Camera or buying from B&H where I have a better guarantee on the condition.

Starky1589 said:

I've honestly never had much success with used gear in the city. What I've wanted has never been available locally on Craigslist, at least not at enough of a discount for the hassle compared to waiting for an Ebay 10% off coupon to buy from a place like Map Camera or buying from B&H where I have a better guarantee on the condition.

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I've had great luck on Craigslist...buy and sell all my used gear there. My latest find was a new 100STF for $1600...fantastic deal. I also sold off all my Nikon gear on CL...it was all in superlative shape.

I just shopped for my A7Riii and lenses in November. In the end the only shop that had everything I wanted in stock was suprisingly London Drugs on Robson. They also offered the best deal. Check with them re stock as there warehouse often has stock that isn’t even listed on their site..bad updating.

Thanks Dave! i'll check 'em out!

Now...i sent and email to The Camera Store in Calgary and they told me i could order online and recieve my gear in Vancouver without BC taxes. I would only pay the federal taxes wich is about 5%.
Is that correct? and if it is so...why doesn't everybody does it?

Thank you all for the help!
i've checked Craigslist! i'll keep checking till mid march wich is when i'll get there.

I live in BC (about 5 hours from Vancouver) and order from the Camera Store all the time. They have great staff who will discuss cameras and gear over the phone or email. I really don't need to touch and feel the camera to know what I want so I discuss with them and then order. I place the order on the website and they usually ship same day as the purchase. They are very reputable and they don't charge BC provincial sales tax even though I'm in BC. They only charge the federal sales tax (GST) which is 5%.

I highly recommend the Camera Store.

Pete

PeterGui said:

Thanks Dave! i'll check 'em out!
Now...i sent and email to The Camera Store in Calgary and they told me i could order online and recieve my gear in Vancouver without BC taxes. I would only pay the federal taxes wich is about 5%.
Is that correct? and if it is so...why doesn't everybody does it?

Click to expand...

petersolymosi said:

I live in BC (about 5 hours from Vancouver) and order from the Camera Store all the time. They have great staff who will discuss cameras and gear over the phone or email. I really don't need to touch and feel the camera to know what I want so I discuss with them and then order. I place the order on the website and they usually ship same day as the purchase. They are very reputable and they don't charge BC provincial sales tax even though I'm in BC. They only charge the federal sales tax (GST) which is 5%.

I highly recommend the Camera Store.

Pete

PeterGui said:

Thanks Dave! i'll check 'em out!
Now...i sent and email to The Camera Store in Calgary and they told me i could order online and recieve my gear in Vancouver without BC taxes. I would only pay the federal taxes wich is about 5%.
Is that correct? and if it is so...why doesn't everybody does it?

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RE: The Camerastore in Calgary

If the amount of money you are spending makes sense - in other word the 6-7% tax is more than the cost of a round trip airfare, they will usually suggest it to you that you fly in for the afternoon.

It's well worth the trip. The store is stocked to the walls and you can typically walk out with your purchase, not like those stores where they have to order everything.

The people are fun too.

PeterGui said:

Thank you all for the help!
i've checked Craigslist! i'll keep checking till mid march wich is when i'll get there.

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What gear are you trying to buy? I don't remember reading about it.

I'm torn between switching to a7rIII or going with the Z7.